


In the Aftermath

by cranberrycake



Series: Alisaie [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Age of Consent, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Comfort/Angst, Consensual Sex, F/M, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, Incest, Protective Siblings, Sibling Incest, Sibling Rivalry, Smut, Twincest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:07:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29302398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cranberrycake/pseuds/cranberrycake
Summary: After the events in Lakeland, Alisaie has to finally confront and deal with her feelings about what happened in Amh Araeng. She turns to the one person she trusts the most.Though linear, it's more a collection of one shots than a story with beginning, middle and end. Little glimpses of moments shared between the big events.
Relationships: Alisaie Leveilleur/Alphinaud Leveilleur
Series: Alisaie [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188371
Comments: 17
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Running with the theory that they are of the age of consent by the events in Shadowbringers and ignoring the time bubble, which still doesn't make sense to me with the flow of plot in the game.

“Take rest,” Alisaie repeated the Exarch’s words with a hint of contempt as she closed the door to her inn room. She knew that sleep wouldn’t come easy after what she had witnessed in Amh Araeng and Lakeland. Her heart ached for Tesleen and she felt hopeless. All the work she had done for the last year felt like for naught. As glad as she was to work with the Warrior of Light again, it seemed that it had come at too high a cost. 

Alisaie removed and set her weapon aside on the table full of untouched food. She undid the clasp on her coat and let it fall unceremoniously to the floor. She could already hear Alphinaud in her head, making some remark on her carelessness. 

She went through the motions of getting ready for bed, letting the dirt and grime from the air of the desert climate wash off her body while she showered. She quickly braided up her hair and slipped into clean small clothes before slowly making her way to the bed. With a wave of her hand she extinguished the lights as she crawled under the crisp clean white sheets. 

Sleep escaped her as she knew it would. As she hung somewhere in between a world of dreams and an awakened state, her mind replayed the terrifying visuals of the horror that had taken place in Amh Araeng and to her friend.

 _No_ , she thought as her eyes snapped open. She wasn’t going to break. That hadn’t been the worst she had seen in her travels and a premonition told her it wasn’t the worst of what was yet to come. She couldn’t take for granted the fact that she was there, warm flesh, beating heart, and the inhale and exhale of her breath. It could have been her and Tesleen wouldn’t want to her fold into her grief. She had to remain strong for the others, for her brother. 

Alisaie pulled herself out of bed and quietly slipped out the door to her room. There was only one person she could speak with who would understand. No one else knew her or could occupy her mind the same way. She made her way down the hall and gave a soft knock on her bother’s door.

“Who is it?” she heard Alphinaud’s familiar voice on the other side. Already her heart slowed down a beat, but though she opened her mouth to answer, her voice threatened to betray her emotions so she remained there, still and a quiet. 

The door opened suddenly and Alphinaud stood there with his codex in hand, looking ready for battle. Alisaie pushed past him, grabbing the book on her way in. 

“Do you really think anyone from Eulmore would make it this far into the Crystarium just to knock on your door?” she chided, as she set it down on his table. Her eyes lingered on the nectarines that sat in a bowl and the pain that was momentarily forgotten returned at the center of her chest. 

Alphinaud closed the door behind her, but not before peering down the hallway one quick moment just to be sure. He sat down at the table, where he had clearly been enjoying a meal before the interruption and returned to picking at his food. 

Alisaie moved away, wanting to be as far as she could from the accursed fruit. She sat down on the edge of his bed and studied him a moment. While on first look, he seemed normal, eating all right and passing the time, she knew her brother. 

Worry had begun to leave its mark in the corner of his eyes. She knew when he was deep in thought on something he found important and while she didn’t really care about the politics of whatever mess he had dragged himself into this time, she could tell it was more than diplomacy that bothered him. 

“We’ve done all we can for the time being. With the Warrior of Light back in our ranks and with the way the Exarch protects this city, we are safe for now. He’s right, we need to rest. We’re no good for the cause if we’ve not got the strength to fight,” she told him. She didn’t need to ask him what was wrong. It was a silly question when there was a high price on ones head. 

“True enough. Then why are you here?” he asked as he turned in his seat to face her. 

“Knowing what we should be doing and doing it aren’t always one in the same. I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about Tesleen, what we had to do to her. I know that it’s what she would have wanted, in order to be free but…” she paused. As much as he understood her, she was too prideful to share those weaknesses out loud. “It shouldn’t have happened to begin with and it’s not something I’ll likely ever forget.”

Alphinaud regarded her for a moment before he stood and joined her on the bed. He laid back and without word pulled on her arm to get her to lay with him. It was something they hadn’t done in what felt like ages. 

Once he had joined the Scions, there were very few moments where Alisaie felt alone and relatable to her own twin. Their paths too often led them in different directions. Though truly even before that, moments of small comforts that they had enjoyed and relied on as children had all but dissipated in their rivalry and her growing need to be her own person. 

Alisaie complied and pulled her legs up onto the mattress, then tucked herself up against Alphinaud. 

“You’re capable. You couldn’t have prevented what happened. I wasn’t there, but I know you, Alisaie. You would have done everything you could, which meant this was out of your control,” he said in an attempt to soothe her. 

While she appreciated the attempt, it did little to quell the emotions. She wanted to feel something, anything but this pain and sorrow. There should have been relief in bringing dark to Lakeland, but the unspeakable act it took to get it overrode the pride and sense of accomplishment. She needed more. She needed to feel alive for the ones who couldn’t. 

Alisaie turned on her side so that she was closer to his body. She kissed Alphinaud’s jawline before she found his lips. He quickly pulled his head away as she suspected he might and looked at her in bewilderment. 

“What are you doing?”

It hadn’t been the first time. There had been innocent flirtation and exploration in their younger years. Nothing beyond affection, but perhaps enough to cause a glance. 

“I need to feel something, feel alive. I need these images out of my head. And…” she whispered, the words getting caught in her throat as she moved her leg over his and used the position to pull herself up and straddle his waist. She leaned down and looked into his eyes before she finished her thought, “…I missed you.”

She knew that look. He was thinking it all through. He thought too much. He talked too much. But to her, that was his weakness. This was something else she clearly had more experience in from her journeys. He wouldn’t be her first, but would she be his? He was so wrapped up in his diplomacy missions, did he ever get a chance to relax and enjoy the company of others without ulterior motive or purpose?

Alisaie rolled her hips forward as she kissed him again. Alphinaud didn’t pull away this time and kissed her back with matching urgency. Her hips moved against him rhythmically, her focus now on the feeling that started to warm over her body rather than who she was with and more importantly the events of the last few days. 

She moved down his legs a bit which caused him to sit up so that he could keep kissing her. With clumsy and rushed fingers she undid his pants and pushed them down enough to release him. She moved the fabric of her small clothes aside enough before she lifted her hips and guided him into place. They both let out a moan, nearly in unison as the pleasure clouded their senses. 

Alphinaud’s hands went instinctively to her hips and she locked her eyes to his identical stare as she started to move again. Though he wasn’t her first, this was different. This felt like something beyond just simple pleasure. It was a reconnection. She was alive, he was alive and they had been apart far too long. It wasn’t just selfish desire to escape, but thankfulness that he had lived through his experience in Eulmore and she had lived through hers. 

It only took minutes for that warmth she had experienced to move through Alisaie’s body, pushing her to move faster as she gripped his shoulders and reached a climax that spread through her whole body. 

Awkwardly, they moved together. He worked at removing the rest of his clothes as she lay there on the clean sheets and allowed him to pull off her own bottoms. She spread her legs to give Alphinaud room, as he took his place between them and pushed into her again. Her back arched up before they began to rut at each other like unashamed lowborn field hands.

She closed her eyes and moaned each time his hips pushed hard against hers. He hit something deep within her, as if he knew her body as well she knew it herself. He pushed her to another orgasm, which she rode through half lidded eyes as she watched him desperately push to his own. He pulled away from her body quickly, both full well knowing the consequences if he didn’t, and doubled over, his head into the pillow as he finished. 

Alisaie lay there with heavy breaths as she looked up at the ceiling. Her fingers searched for her missing small clothes and once found them, slid them back on, her eyes fixated on a crack in the roof. Then she lay there, feeling most alive for the briefest of moments before the guilt began to settle in. 

“That…” she started to say, but she couldn’t find the words to express what she felt. This wasn’t her area of expertise. She went quiet and relied on Alphinaud to speak up to express what she could only feel. 

“Can never happen again,” he concluded her thought. Sure, yes, she knew that. But her guilt wasn’t coupled with regret. She turned to look at him, really taking him in this time. A hand reached out and ran down his shoulder then his arm.

“Do you regret it then?” she asked him, making eye contact to really assess what he was thinking. No, that wasn’t regret in his face. He was looking at in her a way he never had before, but it wasn’t disgust or even shame. He confirmed it, once he caught his breath.

“No, that’s not it. That’s not what I mean. That… is something we must never be caught doing. The repercussions to our reputation would be insurmountable,” he replied. There it was, what really mattered most to him. Annoyed, Alisaie sat up. She poured herself a glass of wine and took a sip before she turned back on him.

“Reputation, of course. It isn’t very diplomatic, is it? Grave error in judgement, and who can rely on one with such poor decision making skills? On par with say, I don’t know, trying to start a Grand Company right out of school and having it all fall apart,” she knew that her words would sting, that he would never get over the mistakes he made with the Crystal Braves and she had struck the lowest of blows, but he had stung her first. His reputation was all that mattered in the wake of their lapse of decency. 

He sat up on the bed, ready with a retort but she had already taken the wine glass with her and headed for the door. She didn’t stop to listen to his protest as she made her way back to her rooms and to her own bed. At least the visit had done the trick, she was too angry at Alphinaud to remember the pain.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alisaie tries to deal with the repercussions of what was done and said the night before. Plans move forward to rescue the Minifilia and she begins to come out of the fog of grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more plot focused and I tried to skim through the MSQ stuff to add a little more depth to what's already canon. Still working out how to do that so that it's not dragging on with repetitive action from the game. Still not sure how many chapters this will be and I appreciate it if you're still sticking with me through it. Thank you for the comments and kudos!

Guilt. Alisaie tried to wash it off with a shower as she scrubbed her skin pink. As if there was something physical that could be done to rid one’s self of emotions. It felt like one mistake after another, starting with Tesleen and reaching a dramatic peak with Alphinaud. 

The guilt was replaced with shame as she dressed, her thoughts elsewhere as she put on each piece of clothing slowly. Not shame in the act, but in the things she had said to him in her own stubborn pain. They had their rows, but she had reached a new personal low. Despite their differences in opinions and the way they approached life, no one meant more to her than him. She’d spent every day of her life with him, up until they had arrived in Ul’dah and she had felt a pull of estrangement between them since. 

She had to make things right between them. At the end of all things, they were supposed to have each other and were supposed to work together. It was what their grandfather had wanted. 

A knock at the door pulled Alisaie to the present. Though she hadn’t expected anyone in particular, she knew that the Exarch would likely call them at any given moment to go over their next steps. Still, her heart skipped a beat at the sound. She was too on edge. 

“The Exarch called for us,” Alphinaud told her as she opened the door. He didn’t wait for a reply or for her to follow. She grabbed her weapon and quickly dashed after him. 

“Alphy, wait!” she called out, but he touched the Aetheryte without looking back. Ten steps behind, Alisaie gave a frustrated sigh and hurried along to the Occulus. She caught sight of him already on the steps and called out again, “Wait!”

He paused at the top of the steps and waited for her to catch up. Neither spoke as they entered and though Alisaie tried to stand next to her brother once inside, he moved to the other side of the Exarch, who glanced at each of them with slight curiosity before he lost interest and turned his attention back to the vision up on the crystal. 

The threat of Ran’jit was serious and after witnessing his tete a tete with the Exarch, fear sunk in Alisaie’s chest for her brother. He knew they were there. He looked right at them, right at Alphinaud. Had it been the Exarch’s presence that prevented him from making his move? No, this was a game to him. It was in his eyes. 

Alisaie paid only half attention to the talk of Minfilia, her mind already at work on what she could do to protect Alphinaud. As they were instructed to head to the Cabinet of Curiosities, she watched him walk past her. Not even a glance in her direction. 

First, there was that to contend with. Last night. 

She quickly followed after him. He went past the Aetheryte and continued across the plaza. 

“Would you stop?” she called out.

“I want to walk. Alone,” he told her without stopping and without looking back. Though she remained quiet, she didn’t give him the peace to be with his own thoughts. It was dangerous. He was in his head and Ran’jit was likely still within the vicinity. She was ready for action, should anyone try anything.

Alphinaud picked up his pace once he realized she was following him and the quicker he moved the more Alisaie’s frustration rose. Finally, as they reached the entrance to the Trivium, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Alphinaud Leveilleur, you’re insufferable! I’m trying to apologize!”

He paused and turned to face her. As she caught up she took his hand and led him down the staircase to the left of them. There were too many people around and her outburst caused attention to be drawn to them, but she ignored the mummers and the stares until she got him alone behind a large tree.

The glow of the purple branches and leaves that hung low were breathtaking and she hesitated a moment as she took in the beauty of the area. Boats and gardens, flourishing in the man made dark. Not something the residents of the Crystarium would have to worry about any longer. Her attention turned back to her brother.

“I was out of line. I never should have said what I said and I didn’t mean it. I just…” apologizing wasn’t a strong suit of hers, but if anyone knew that it was him and so she welcomed his patience as she tried to find the right words while they stood in awkward silence. She took a deep breath and said the singular phrase she hated most in the world, “… you were right. I didn’t like that you were right and I reacted poorly. I’m sorry.”

“Can you say that again? Not all of it, just that part about me being right,” he said with smugness crossing his face.

Her frustration at his impudence rose again and she pushed him back against the tree. 

“You -“ she had just begun to yell at him when she felt his lips against hers. This was a new trick, emboldened by their games and it was unfair. She kissed him back channeling her frustration into the action rather than the words she had been ready to hurl at him. 

This was too dangerous. She pulled away, her annoyance subdued for the moment. 

“Later. We should talk later. We have a task at hand, but I am… sorry,” she repeated before she moved out from behind the tree and retraced their steps back to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 

It all happened so quickly, they went through the story of the Oracle of Light and then in a great rush, plans were made to rescue the latest incarnation. Of course she jumped at the chance at the adventure. Not only was it crucial to rescue her and add to their numbers, but she felt it was exactly what she needed to get her head straight. It would balance the scales of her earlier mistakes. 

By the time that they were done with their uniform fittings and the briefing of their mission, it was night again. It felt strange to look up and see the night sky. They had been living in light for so long that despite the restoration the evening before, it felt surreal to her senses. 

“It’s a bit of a journey so we’ll leave in the morning,” Alphinaud remarked as he walked up to Alisaie, her eyes still turned up to the stars. 

“I was dealing with so much grief yesterday, I never took a moment to appreciate what we’ve missed,” she said as she sought out familiar constellations. It was still a foreign landscape for her mind. This wasn’t home, or their planet. Everything was in the wrong place. 

Alisaie felt his hand touch hers. She pulled her fingers away briefly out of instinct, before reaching out again letting them trail against his. 

They walked back to the Aetheryte in silence and once back to the suites, she paused at her room. Without a word, she grabbed Alphinaud’s hand as he started down the hall, led him in and closed the door behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wine induced conversation about first times and the past. Emotional intimacy. Alisaie finally gets some sleep.

Alisaie opened another bottle of wine and brought it over to the bed. She knelt on the mattress as she filled her brother’s cup and then her own before she set the half full bottle on the small bedside table. Without spilling a drop, she turned in a way so that she was sitting next to him and relaxed back into the pillows. Now working on their second bottle, she was at ease as the sweet alcohol flowed through her blood stream. 

She and Alphinaud had planned out their trip and what they might expect at Fort Jobb. But the moment her brother started to drone on about the politics of the whole affair, she had opened the wine and planted herself at the open window where she gazed off into the stars.

He had been the one to move to the bed this time and she hesitated. That was a door that they had agreed was now shut. A fluke. Yet by the time the first bottle was empty, she missed the carefree way they used to lay around together in each other’s company while they read or shared stories. Years before she cared about making a mark of her own, when she was content to be his equal, his twin. 

There had been a novelty in it, knowing they had a particular kind of bond no other siblings could emulate. They had shared a womb. When she was younger, the two of them were one in the same. She didn’t know any better. Alphinaud was all she had known. 

How could they go back to that after being separated for so long? Until their arrival in Eorzea, every experience had been shared with him. Their travels were creating a chasm between what they were and who they had become. It was with that in mind she finally gave to her instincts and curled up next to him. 

“This is the best wine. It reminds me of Caelumtree wine. When Thancred was escorting me back to Ishgard from the Twelveswood, after…” she didn’t want to get back into that. To bring back those memories to him of almost losing her. “… well it was all I drank to keep my mind off the pain.”

“I was so angry with you,” he admitted. “You’re the least quiet person I know. Espionage doesn’t suit you.”

Alisaie gave a light shrug and took another sip from her glass as he continued to scold her.

“There was a moment, where I really thought I was going to lose you. I couldn’t imagine going forward with everything we had planned to do without you. Even though we were apart, I knew that you were doing things your own way but that we had the same goal. In all of our talk, there was never a discussion on what one should do if the other didn’t make it.”

“You’ve scared me often enough,” she retorted. She wasn’t sure she had enough fingers to count the times he had put himself in the line of danger since they had left the Studium. “I don’t want to take tally of who has scared the other more, because the count isn’t over. You know that. As long as we’re Scions, there’s always going to be that chance. And this… we may not make it back.”

The seriousness of their predicament killed what was meant to be a lighthearted conversation about alcohol. Alisaie sunk down a couple inches into the bed. 

“Very well, this isn’t a conversation we need to have at the present. We could discuss what happened last night,” he suggested.

“You really know how to suck the fun out of any situation, don’t you?” she muttered.

Alphinaud pulled the wine glass from her hand, “And you’ve had enough of this.”

“We can talk about last night. Tell me something. Was it your first time?” she asked as she leaned over and grabbed her glass back. She took a long sip of it before he could ban her from anymore, but over the rim she could see the familiar flush of his cheeks.

“No, actually,” he replied. Alisaie just about spit the wine out. It hadn’t been the answer she’d expect. 

“You’re lying,” she countered.

“Are you saying it was that bad?” he asked as he turned completely toward her. The panic in his voice always got a bit of a thrill out of her.

“No, not at all,” she admitted. It had been a rush and purely a tactical move on her part to feel something positive. Selfish, in that need to be close to someone she could trust. It was her turn to pinken slightly as she thought about the soreness she still felt if she moved certain ways. 

“At the Studium, before we left. There was someone,” he said as he laid back down. Alisaie studied him hard for a moment. She couldn’t tell if he was attempting to save face or if there was the possibility that in their last night he’d had a quick tryst with one of the various girls who glanced in his direction. 

“I knew all of your friends. You’re lying,” she pressed him. 

“Seossanne,” he replied.

Alisaie searched her memory to try to put name to face. There it was, she remembered her now. Another Elezen. She recalled he had been helping her with some of her assignments. 

“All right. I suppose that could have happened.”

“Was it yours?” he asked.

“No, there’s been one other,” she confessed. She reached over him and grabbed the bottle of wine, topping off her glass one more time. He did the same before putting the empty bottle back on the table. He wouldn’t look at her, his eyes intensely focused on the wine. Had that been on his mind through all of this? That he had corrupted her in some way? 

“Who?” he asked after a moment of silence. His eyes still anywhere but on her.

Alisaie shook her head, “Nope, not giving a name. I’m not entirely convinced you won’t find something in your codex to hex him with.”

“I know him then? When was this? Did he hurt you?” there it was, his eyes locked on hers. She held it, to show she would stand her ground on this.

“We aren’t playing your game of deduction, Alphinaud. If I say anything, you’ll start tearing apart my sentences for clues. He didn’t hurt me. And take some satisfaction in the knowledge that you beat me to it,” she argued. 

He looked away from her again and kept the wine glass to his lips. She could see his mind processing timelines and the company that she kept. If she continued to let him work through it in his head he would either figure it out or offend her by coupling her up with the wrong man. Then, possibly offend the right person or the wrong with brotherly confrontation. He was safe, as it was. She wasn’t about to track down some girl he tutored, but her first hit way too close to home. 

Alisaie leaned over and set her now empty wine glass down. She took Alphinaud’s and set it next to hers then with her finger under his chin, lifted his head to meet his eyes. 

“It doesn’t matter. Don’t over think it,” she said before she pressed a kiss to his forehead, right between his eyes. He tilted his head up, catching her lips. 

She moved to straddle his hips. Not with lust or desperation like the night before. She didn’t like to talk about the idea of a future without one of them in it and it had already tainted the conversation. It was a fear that burrowed itself in her chest whenever they went separate ways. 

“Stay tonight?” she asked as she rested her head against his. They remained that way for some time. Neither spoke, neither moved.

“When we were younger, you were always in my bed,” he broke the silence as his arms wrapped firmer around her. 

“There were too many storms.”

“When we moved into the Studium, do you remember how they had to put a ward up to keep you to your own quarters?” he asked. Alisaie could feel his lips move into a smile.

“I didn’t understand why we were being kept apart and what difference it made if there were girls quarters and boys quarters. I thought they were trying to keep things from us by keeping us apart. I didn’t trust them,” she admitted.

“You never trust anyone.”

“I trust a few. I trust you,” she said as she slipped back down, body still pressed closed to him. She closed her eyes, her head swimming a bit with the wine.

She knew that Alphinaud would argue, but her distrust had been valid. How often had they been led astray? Or, thinking of Urianger, loyalty only stemmed so far if it was for the greater good? Who did they have but each other?

“Sleep well, sister. We’ve a lot to do over coming weeks,” he said softly as she began to slip into the sleep she had forfeit the night before.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alisaie and Alphinaud deal with pixies chores and games. Alphinaud continues to try and guess who she slept with. No smut in this one, but a lot of sibling rivalry and pushing their luck with the Fae. Pre-emptive warning (or gift?) that there will be smut in the next part. This is part one of two of their pixie dealings.
> 
> Also wrote a companion one shot about Alisaie's first time: [The First Before the First](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29476056)

Of course Urianger would hide himself out among pixies. What better way to persuade people from visiting than to place oneself in the center of one of the most annoying species in existence. 

Alisaie was already tired by the time they reached the outskirts of Il Mheg and she was in no mood for the games these little creatures wanted to play. Still, it seemed easy enough to do a few tasks before being allowed on through. Trust had to be built, right?

Alphinaud was mumbling under his breath about having to get some garland out of the tree and Alisaie paused on her own task to watch him clumsily make his way up the branches to reach for the interwoven flowers and vines, which had been placed near the very top. 

“Are you going to help or just stand there?” he asked as he looked down, midway up the tall tree.

“Oh, I’m definitely going to just stand here and watch you fall from that tree,” she replied as she crossed her arms and stood her ground. 

He had just gotten his fingers around the edge of the garland, before realizing it was tangled in with the branches. He gave a tug and while it knocked it loose, he lost his balance and tumbled out, landing straight on his back.

Alisaie pulled out her rapier and did a swiftcast before a Vercure then she held out a hand to help him off the ground. 

“If we’re ghosts, I’m offended that we still have pain,” he complained as he sorted himself out. She couldn’t hide her amusement at his discomfort. Sometimes he earned it.

Her task was easy enough, to collect the best flowers. None of the ones that had bugs or rotten marks on them. A dozen perfectly shaped and bloomed flowers. She did it quickly and with ease while Alphinaud surveyed their surroundings for any site or sound of where Urianger might have been hiding. 

“Thancred,” he remarked as she rejoined. She gave him a puzzled look.

“What about him?”

“He was your first, wasn’t he?” Alphinaud seemed really proud of himself having deduced who she might have lain with, but she could sense the anger in the edginess of his question. She couldn’t believe he was still obsessing on this. Then again, yes. She could.

She shook her head and pushed past him with her hand giving him a hard shove that knocked him back to the ground, “No, of course not.”

“But he’s known for his conquests. His reputation surely proceeds him in Ul’dah. You spent all that time alone with him, following the Warriors of Darkness. He isn’t a bad looking man, that roguish charm only got more charming with the his rugged survival look,” he argued as he got up and followed her.

Alisaie smiled, turning back toward him, “It sounds like you’re the one smitten with Thancred. What would Estinien think?”

“What?! Why would you think… that’s ridiculous,” he said, taking the lead to head back to the others and the pixies so that she couldn’t see his face. She stifled a giggle as she followed behind.

“He’s too… I don’t know the word. Ever since the Lahabrea incident, losing his magic, losing Minfilia. I trust him in a fight. He’s one the best to have on your side. He’s a very close friend. But that whole time we were together, I was drunk and or dying. Not much room for romance,” she answered. 

No, it hadn’t been Thancred. In his better days though, Alisaie had to admit that smooth charm might have put her in a bad situation. They were perhaps too alike at times. 

“The Exarch,” he guessed next.

“What do you think happened? I was in the middle of a battle when he pulled me, but you think I woke up here, naked as my name day and we couldn’t help ourselves? I nearly struck him down for his timing,” Alisaie huffed. Now he was just grasping at absurd theories. 

“I mean…”

“Are you crystalized under that robe or just happy to see me?” she teased. 

“Alisaie!” 

They both went quiet as they rejoined the others and Alisaie was content to stand back and let Thancred and the Warrior of Light deal with the pixies. She wasn’t even a little surprised that a pact had already been made with one, but as the pixie went off and Alphinaud found amusement in it, her nerves began to aggravate. 

“Another self important brat. Just what we need,” she said with a sigh. 

“Hm, reminds me of my childhood,” Alphinaud remarked.

She took a moment to process the words, their meaning before she reached out and grabbed him. It was the straw that broke the Dhalmel’s back with all of his digging and pestering. 

“It was a joke! Just a joke!” he said as she shook him, then let him go.

As negotiations continued and she and her brother were offered up in the negotiation, Alisaie resigned herself to their fate. In truth, she didn’t think pixie chores were any worse than listening to Urianger and her brother rabble on about politics and the situation. She knew that she would get a thorough more straight to the point run down of it all later from Thancred. 

“Worry not, we shall be fine. Go on and find Urianger,” Alphinaud told the others. 

“Send Urianger my regards...and tell him to live somewhere less annoying next time,” she added, before she turned her attention to the little group of pixies that had surrounded them and began to herd them off to one of the flower covered hills.

It took him a moment. Just seconds longer than it had taken her to deduct the meaning in his poor joke for him to connect dots in his head. But there it was. 

“No. Really?”

“What are you on about, brother?” she asked as one of the pixies moved behind her and started to play with her braid, pulling it out of the ribbon and tying it back up in a newer more fanciful weave. Another did the same to Alphinaud. Three others each pushed them down to sit on the grass.

“Urianger. It was him. I… I don’t know whether to be impressed, angry or to laugh,” he said.

Alisaie felt her cheeks pinken out of shame, anger or embarrassment. She wasn’t sure which anymore. This was why she hadn’t wanted to say anything. He wasn’t going to drop it until he knew and then he was never going to let her live it down. 

“All I said was to send my regards!” 

“He gave you that rapier you have back at the Source.”

“He’s been a family friend our whole lives!”

“No, no this won’t do. This twin is bitter and angry. They don’t match at all,” one of the pixies interrupted. 

“Change clothes,” another suggested.

“What?” Alisaie and Alphinaud said in unison.

“I want to see the red one smiling. I agree they should change clothes” a third piped in. 

Without another pause, Alisaie stood and began to angrily remove first her small coat, then her weapons and then pulled her dress up over her head. She removed her boots and stood there in just her small clothes while Alphinaud stared up at her. 

“Now the other!” one of the pixies exclaimed.

Alphinaud pulled himself to his feet. His fingers trembled at the buttons of his coat and he moved slowly with the rest of his attire as the pixies flew around them.

As soon as he was out of all of his clothes, Alisaie snatched them up and put them on. There were few things that rubbed her the wrong way as being confused for her brother or forced to dress exactly like him, but a tiny inkling of missing home and missing their carefree youth before Eorzea lingered under the surface. 

She was dressed in his clothes faster than he had grabbed hers. She tugged on the coat to straighten it out and watched him as he slipped her dress over his head. He finished putting everything on as she stood there with her hands on her hips.

“Now the blue one is angry and the red one looks pink. They still don’t match,” the first pixie stated with irritation growing in its voice.

“I am not angry. Nothing ever makes me angry. I am Alphinaud. I am above such things and better than any person in all the world. Why here is this menial task that I need you to do while I bore everyone with my political ramblings and attempts at diplomacy,” she mocked. He furrowed his brow at her.

“I’m Alisaie. I never listen to anyone and do whatever I want, regardless of any consequence. Even when my more intelligent brother warns me of danger. I hate everyone and everything. Except Urianger. I’m in love with him. Oh and I’m also in love with the Warrior of Light,” he taunted back.

That was it. She lunged at Alphinaud and knocked him to the ground. The pixies began to get angry and pulled her off of her brother.

“No, no no! You’re going to spoil everything! No!” one shouted. 

“New blue one, you should go collect dew from the flowers in the east. New red one, we need twelve sticks with two branches. You’ll find them to the west. Bring these back and we will play a new game,” the designated leader of the group instructed. 

Alisaie huffed off to do her chore and looked back only once to see Alphinaud stomping off in the other direction, looking awkward in her dress. It was hard to stifle the giggle through her anger, but it was still there, boiling over.

The task did it’s job however and by the time she came back with the water, she was less angry and more understanding that Alphinaud had just been trying to sort out his feelings under the pressure of pixie demands. He could have ran off after the others to confront Urianger about an incident that was long past, but he didn’t. 

“Your clothes don’t fit me anymore,” he remarked as he rejoined Alisaie and the pixies. 

“You’re still lithe though. We just need to put some stuffing in up top,” she teased, more light heartedly this time as she patted the front of his chest. She gave him a small smile, which he returned.

“There! Now they’re both smiling and they match!” a pixie announced. 

“Can we switch our clothes back?” she asked.

“Only if you promise there will be no more of those bitter words!”

Alisaie agreed and they swapped clothes again. There that felt better. She felt like herself again. 

“What should we make them do now?” 

“They should dance!” 

“There’s no music,” Alphinaud pointed out.

“And he can’t dance,” Alisaie added. 

“I can a little,” he defended. Another sly jab rose up in her throat but she caught herself, determined not to escalate things and irritate the pixies again. 

“Do it anyway!” several said at once. 

Alphinaud offered up his hand and she took it. They had danced together when they were younger, at stately affairs. Put on display for emissaries and the like. He wasn’t as bad as she teased, but it did feel awkward to move without any music. If only they had a bard among them. 

“I’ve given it some thought and I approve of the match,” he told her. “Our parents likely will too.”

“What?” Alisaie was confused, then she remembered. She rolled her eyes into the back of her head dramatically. “There is no match. It was… a particular moment. And he didn’t give me the rapier because of that. He had already been working on it. Part of a larger scheme when it came to fighting for Ala Mhigo, I’m sure. He will always be in love with Moenbryda. He’s a family friend.”

She wasn’t sure why she was attempting to justify it. It wasn’t really any of his business. She just wanted him to shut up about the whole thing.

“Still. She is gone and you are here,” he said in a supportive tone. 

“We’ll likely never marry or find love. All of us,” she pointed out and winced when he missed a step and landed on her foot. “What we do is far too dangerous and there is always something for us to do. It’s hard enough losing friends. It seems almost masochistic to put ourselves through that with someone we love as more, or more importantly to put them through it. He’s actually a perfect example of that because of his love for departed Moenbryda.”

“New game!” the leader of the pixies announced. 

“New game, yes! Bored now,” another remarked. 

Alisaie stopped midstep, almost knocking Alphinaud off balance with her abruptness.

“Come, come come,” they were ushered over to the Aetheryte and into the building. 

Alisaie felt like a giant in the pixie hovel. Though it had a tall ceiling, most of the furniture was about the size of the items she used as a small child. 

“So this is what it will feel like when we’re fully grown,” she commented. 

The pixies went this way and that in a scurry of action. Alisaie watched them with curiosity as they set out food and drink, and pulled fine materials of silk and soft linen from their shelves. 

“Don’t eat that or drink anything,” Alphinaud whispered to her. “If they’re anything like their brethren the sylphs, it’s dangerous to eat fae food. We could be stuck here forever.”

“I’ve no doubt that’s their intention,” she replied. 

“Oh but you must drink! No tricks, pixies honor!” the leader announced. Could they read lips?

Alisaie and Alphinaud exchanged a matching worried glance as two cups were thrust into their hands. At least they were going down in this together and perhaps, if it was a trick, Urianger would be able to get them out of it. Surely, he knew how to handle them. 

She brought the cup to her lips, tasting the sweet honeyed liquid which wasn’t half bad. She only drank as much as would be considered polite and set the cup down on one of the small tables before a cake was put in her face. She didn’t have time to argue before the pixie was pushing it in her mouth. That too, wasn’t as bad as she expected. 

“What is this? It tastes of some kind of fruit,” he remarked as he started to eat on his own accord. 

The pixies all began to giggle and it was the last thing Alisaie remembered before she slipped unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alisaie and Alphinaud are trapped by the pixies and left to entertain themselves. They start to understand the deeper complexities of their bond and their circumstance. Alisaie makes some realizations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took me a bit longer. I'm in the middle of a writing conference. It may be a bit before the next part because I'm focused on my original writing through this conference, but this will be continued until I reach a natural conclusion with it!
> 
> Chapter Warning: There is emotional intimate smut in this one!

Alphinaud sat at a table, picking through the food that was laid out before him and sipping on the fruit wine that the pixies had left for them. He was deep in thought, but quiet so to not wake his sister. 

Alisaie was already awake. She had been for some time, but took the moment to just watch him. It brought back memories of their childhood. She hated the subjects that he entertained himself with, but for a chance to spend time with him, she had spent hours next to his side in the library. She would just watch him. She knew when something confused, entertained, saddened or angered him. It wasn’t always so simple. He wasn’t as forthwith in showing his emotions, but for her there were tell tale signs in his eyes and lips. Worry ate at him now.

She sat up and looked around her. It was a circular bedroom chamber, but the walls weren’t solid. Decorative trellis surrounded them, interwoven with flowers. Her body was covered in silks, in a strange makeshift sort of dress, similar to the one they had put her brother in.

“How long were we out? Is there anyway to know?” she asked. 

Alphinaud perked up at the sound of her voice and went over to where she sat up in the bed. 

“I’ve no idea. I woke up, you were still asleep. I’ve been trying to understand the magic of the food and drink they’ve provided us, but it isn’t any kind I’ve had experience with,” he replied as he sat down next to her.

“Do you think they’ll let us go when we’re called for? If we’re stuck here, what’s going to happen to our bodies on the Source?” she asked, even though she knew he didn’t have the answer.

“I’ve been thinking on that. About what the things we do here mean for us in the Source. We aren’t our physical bodies, but we are our souls in solid form. I still don’t want to liken us to ghosts just because of the connotation that we are dead—“

“— Because you’re scared,” she teased with a smile. He flushed. 

Alisaie pulled herself out of the bed and looked over what the pixies had dressed her in. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been in any sort of fancy dress. The adventures and politics of the Scions just never called for it. She didn’t hate the dress, but she hated that she didn’t hate it. She then began to circle the room looking for the way out.

“Do you think we’re going to remember the things we do here when we go back?” he asked.

She thought on it a moment, then gave a shrug. She could only hypothesize, “It’ll either feel like a really strange dream or we’ll wake up, feeling like we’ve lived all this time somewhere else. I wonder how much time has passed there.”

Alphinaud gave a shrug, “We’d already been here awhile when the Warrior of Light finally appeared. It had only been days.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to adjust if we remember everything,” she said with worry. 

The Garlean threat back home seemed so very far away now. And how were they to carry on as they were, having lived so long adapting to a whole new world? Would they be able to carry their new skills and learned ideas forward? How different could they approach the threats to their world with all they’d picked up? It seemed unfair, if they woke up right where they left off. None of this having happened.

Giving up on finding a way out, Alisaie sat back down on the bed. She hated sitting around and doing nothing. And she hated being locked away like a play thing or toy that a child had grown bored of.

“What we did, what we’ve done…”

Alisaie looked over at Alphinaud who had that worried expression on his face. 

“If you think about it, we’ve done nothing. Our bodies are back on the Source. You’ve never touched me. You’ve…. touched my soul. Wow, that’s a really embarrassing statement,” she remarked.

Alphinaud gave a smile though at the analogy.

“And Urianger?”

It was her turn to flush. She threw a pillow at his head, but he caught it and threw it back at her.

“No. Not since…” she tried to math it, the last time she was with him. “I mean the last time was… I guess technically… when you consider the way time moves. A couple weeks ago, though it seemed like years. Whatever that was, it’s likely not to continue if we get back to the Source. It’s in the past. Whatever the past is now. Time is too confusing for me to process right now.”

Alisaie couldn’t help but notice the way he seemed to visibly ease. Was he that jealous? 

“I just wanted to be with someone I could trust, because I didn’t know what I was doing. It was this pent up energy and this desire to try something new. He was a comfort when I was worried about you, as well. It was all very selfish. It’s not what you keep trying to make it out to be. Why do you care so much?”

She needed to put him on the spot, to get him to speak out loud what she already felt she knew. It was easy enough to think that what had transpired a few nights ago had been in easy good fun, a way to deal with emotional pain and get some release, but there was the other side of that coin too. That it had been their souls that urged it on, not their actual bodies. There were many aspects of their relationship to one another that seemed more than the average sibling bond and sharing a womb put their souls closer than most. It was far more complicated than Alisaie wanted to admit to, but she hoped her brother would. 

“We’re getting older, life is taking us down different paths. It’s been that way since we reached Eorzea. We spent the first sixteen years of our life together, day in and day out, for the most part. But we have very different skill sets that are pulling us apart. I don’t want us to reach a point in our lives where we rarely see each other. That our only communication is through the linkshell, giving updates on our progress,” he confessed. “I wanted to support you, if that was a path your life had taken you down. I respect him. He’s family, truly. But I suppose I worried about being replaced.”

Alisae’s heart jumped and ebbed in an ache. She leaned over the bed and pulled herself to him, before she hugged him close to her.

“You’re my twin. You cannot be replaced. I was ready to burn down the entire Garlean empire— on my own if I had to, when you went missing. I suppose I wouldn’t have gotten very far, but I would have gone down fighting to save you or avenge you,” she told him. 

She felt his arms wrap tighter around her. There it was again, that rush and that need she had felt both that night and then again when they were in the Trivium. It was all beginning to make more sense to her now, all the complications. She had preached over and over about how their lives were too dangerous for romance. She would never love and put someone at risk in that way. But she already had a weakness, a vulnerability. The literal other half of her. Her body didn’t crave him, it was her soul. And it wasn’t craving pleasure, but the highest form of intimacy either could provide the other. 

“I don’t know how much time we have,” she said as she began to pull at the material of his robe, moving lithe fingers over silk to get it unwrapped. He began to work on hers, a bustle of matching activity as they pulled it all off. 

“I loathe to say it, but I want to be better,” he admitted once he had gotten her completely undressed. 

“You already are,” she confessed. 

Maybe not in experience. That wasn’t his fault. Urianger had several years on him and learned different tricks and had been with someone as outspoken and adventurous as Moenbryda. The older man could physically do things to her that she didn’t know how to teach Alphinaud. But what he lacked in experience he made up for in love and knowledge of who she was. There was greater pleasure in love over respect or experience. 

Of course, there were a few tricks she could guide him in. She laid back on the mattress and opened her legs. When he moved to lay on top of her, Alisaie stopped him with her feet on his shoulder. 

“What are—“ he started, but smart as a whip, he caught on when she reached down and touched herself. He readjusted his position on the bed and brought his mouth down to her and her back arched in quick response. 

“Here,” she directed as she touched the spot she wanted him to pay the most attention to, he obliged. Fingers found their way inside her and both her hands reached back to grip the pillow behind her head. As he continued, she lost control of her legs and let them fall as far apart as they could go, giving him better access. She rode through the pleasure, pushing up against his mouth as she came hard. So vocal that she had to laugh at herself as he pulled away while she tried to catch her breath. 

Once she had recovered enough of her strength, Alisaie sat up and pushed him onto his back, “Your turn.”

She lacked experience in this department. It was never something Urianger had ever asked for in return, but it seemed only fair and it was a first experience she could give Alphinaud, even if now she wasn’t entirely sure if any of this even counted. 

It was his turn to instruct her. She put her mouth over him, but wasn’t entirely sure what to do from that point. He took her hand, putting it at the base and showed her how he liked it. She caught on and began to use her tongue on him while he was in her mouth and move in the rhythm he’d shown her.

“Stop,” he told her after several minutes. At first, Alisaie felt dejected. That perhaps she had done it wrong. Her cheeks went pink as she moved away. She felt silly, like she wanted to cry, but he pulled her close and kissed her. 

“I don’t want to be spent,” he assured her before he moved her to lay back down. He moved between her legs, hips against hips. She could feel him against her, her eyes locked to his. 

Her thighs gripped him as he pushed into her, but he didn’t move or go at her like wild abandoned as he had their first time. He pushed stray hairs away from her face; the unruly pieces that the pixies hadn’t been able to keep plated. 

“I love you,” he told her, his gaze fixed to hers. 

“I love you too,” she heard herself replying. Words she thought she would never say to anyone, but realized she had always said in her own way to him. 

Though aware that they could be caught at any moment by the pixies or the rest of the group aiding in their rescue, they made no rush. Each move with purpose, as she made sure her hips hit his in the same motion. He pulled his body up enough and braced himself above her with both hands on the pillow on either side of her head, so that he could focus the entirety of his energy on his hips as he made slow but deep thrusts. 

Alisaie gripped his hip tight with her hand, fingers digging into flesh. Her eyes never closing or breaking from his. Alphinaud was the first to break the eye contact, by dipping down to kiss her breasts and then pulling her body close to his for full contact. She found her arms wrapping around him and their rhythm quickened. She couldn’t prevent the sounds that escaped her each time he bottomed out and her vocal exertion seemed to only trigger his own. The room filled now with this sound of their illicit activity. 

“I love you,” she said again, her lips against his shoulder as she spoke. She wanted to be the first to say it this time, because she meant it so deeply in that moment. 

“I love you too,” he repeated before he pulled away enough to catch her mouth with his. They pushed each other to climax while they kissed, with Alphinaud still buried deep within her. 

Alisaie was in no hurry to let him move away as they recovered. She remained wrapped around him, as close as she could get to him. She couldn’t let him go and she didn’t want the moment to end. 

Thankfully, pixies were easy to hear coming from alms away when they were excited. She could hear them arguing nearby about having to return the twins when they weren’t finished having their fun with them yet. 

“So many dances still to learn!”

“We still have more things that need to be done!”

“Do them ourselves! The nerve of that Urianger!”

Alisaie pulled away from Alphinaud as she scrambled to figure out how to put the robes back on just as the pixies had them. At least decent enough for when they swept into the room, the trellis vanished to reveal they hadn’t even left the hovel. 

“I suppose you must return to your friends,” the lead pixie announced. 

“Could we get our clothes back?” Alisaie asked the nearest pixie to her.

“Are you rejecting our gift?” it screamed. 

“No! No, I think Alisaie just feels more comfortable in the clothes that she had. Not that there’s anything wrong with what you’ve provided. We will take them with us and cherish them. But it is likely our friends will need our help in battle, we wouldn’t want to ruin such fine material,” Alphinaud stepped in. Ever the peacekeeper. 

“Fine, fine! But yes, you must take them with you! Let everyone know you are a friend of ours.”

“And please return for more games!”

“Yes, please return!”

“As soon as we can, pixies promise,” he told him. 

By the time that he had finished negotiating and soothed their pride, Alisaie was already redressed in her own dress and coat, strapping her rapier to her side. 

“Hurry up,” she prodded him. “Before they talk you into taking a summer home in Il Mheg.”

Alphinaud sighed. Never able to win. 

As they headed out and through the fields to meet up with the rest of their party, Alisaie reached out and took Alphinaud’s hand. She gave it a squeeze, fingers interlaced with his. The touch was brief before she dropped his hand, but she leaned over to whisper in his ear, a smile on her lips, “I love you, dearest brother.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on a line given by Alphinaud before Malikah's Well about how he and Alisaie had trained tirelessly, just a small sweet glimpse into their time together. Almost pure fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured out how many chapters are left and I have a follow up half written, even though the pairing I have in mind for that might not be everyone's cup of tea. This work should be finished this month!

“You have to move your feet, like just so,” Lyna instructed and moved through the steps again, slower this time. 

Alisaie watched each move, clumsily moving through them as she tried to remember where her feet were supposed to go at which time. As lithe and acrobatic as she was, she felt uncoordinated when it came to dancing. 

“You’re overthinking it,” the Viis moved behind her and placed her hands on Alisaie’s hips. “You have to go with the flow, not such constrained movement. Count in your head and move along to the count.”

Following her movement and trying to relax her body so she didn’t come off so rigid, Alisaie copied Lyna until they were doing the moves in unison.

“Again from the top, but don’t stop just move from once stance into the beginning again.”

Just as she felt she had gotten the steps down and might actually be a bit good, she caught Alphinaud’s eye from the side of the open courtyard, tripped on her feet and tumbled into Lyna. 

“Ouch, sorry,” she muttered as she stood and offered a hand to help her new friend up. Though fully clothed, the leggings and top that she had picked for flexibility suddenly felt thin and she felt exposed. 

“What are you two doing?” her brother asked as he approached with the Exarch.

“I’m trying to learn some new skills so that when we go to Amh Araeng I can be a better fighter.”

“As a dancer?” he asked with confusion.

“No,” she said a bit more aggressively than she meant to, so she lightened her tone. “But it doesn’t hurt to be more agile and be able to move more freely. You should take a dance lesson or two yourself, brother.”

“I’m happy to leave that to the two of you. I don’t particularly see myself trying to cast while doing a two step.”

“Why not? Might confuse the enemy and weaken their defenses,” she said with a forced smile. He returned it with one of his own and gave a small bow as he moved out of her way. 

“Dancing is only part of it,” she explained as she moved to one side of the courtyard. Hands in the hair and foot out, she took a step forward before going into a series of three front handsprings, then did the same back to her spot with back hand springs. She leaned forward again one more time to do another front, but this time with one hand. “I’ve been practicing all day.”

After giving an applause, the smile Alphinaud gave was genuine this time, though a familiar look in her eye made her feel naked again and blush to creep up through her pale cheeks. 

“I’m impressed. Do you think you’ll be able to do something like that with a rapier?” he asked.

“That’s what I need to work on. I wanted to get the moves down for muscle memory first.”

“You couldn’t have asked for a better instructor. Lyna is the best,” the Exarch chimed in, causing Alisaie’s head to turn in his direction. She had almost forgotten he was there. 

“He flatters me, but it’s because he doesn’t know many dancers. Only those that entertain the citizens of the Crystarium, not those that use their skill on the battlefield as he rarely goes beyond our city walls,” Lyna countered. 

“How I wish I could. I’d only be in the way. But trust me that when the time comes, I’ll be there for the end of this,” he said. Alisaie’s heart ached mildly at the wistfulness in his voice. 

“I’ll be honored to fight at your side,” she told him, in hopes that it would cheer him up some. 

“And I at yours, Alisaie,” the Exarch replied. “And I hate to cut your lessons short, but would you mind if I borrowed Lyna’s attention for awhile. There are things with the upcoming plan that I need to discuss with her.”

“Yes, of course,” she said and gave Lyna a nod and a thanks before stepping aside to let them pass as they headed back to the Ocular.

“Lunch?” Alphinaud suggested, holding out wrapped sandwiches. 

“I’m famished, yes!” she said as she reached out for one. She unwrapped it as they walked out of the courtyard and in the direction of the Pendants. 

“What else have you been working on?” he asked after he lead her to a secluded part of the gardens. He sat down on the half wall and started to eat just as she finished hers. 

Excited to show him all her new tricks, she hopped up onto the wall and balanced on it before she did a cartwheel along it and brought herself down to straddle it in front of him.

“You scare me when you do that. You’re going to fall and break your ankle or your neck.”

“This is why I prefer adventuring on my own. Every time you worry about my well being, I hear our mother,” she told him. “Quit jumping off the balcony, Alisaie, you’ll break your neck. The Gaelicat is not a pet, Alisaie. Don’t recite incantations you cannot pronounce, Alisaie. Quit trying to levitate your brother.”

Alphinaud laughed and leaned back against the pillar. 

“Do you think they’ve been told what’s happened?” she asked as she swung one of her legs over to sit properly on the wall.

“Not likely, not yet. If we don’t make it back…” he couldn’t finish the sentence and she could read his worry. She leaned over, pressing a hand to his cheek.

“We’re going to do what we set out to do here. Have faith, dear brother. We’ve come so far. I’ve never been more scared in my life, but three Lightwardens have already been defeated. We will do the same in Amh Araeng and then we will go rescue the people of Eulmore,” she assured him. 

He reached up and took her hand in his, pulling it to his lap and giving it a squeeze of comfort. “I’m glad you’ve found your heart and your will again, sister. I will try to keep faith as you do.”

“In the mean time, you should practice with me. We’ll both be needed and I know you’re itching to face Lord Vauthry. Show him you’re more than just an artist with a paintbrush, but an artist with your arcane,” Alisaie tried to encourage. 

She hopped off the wall, pulling Alphinaud down with her. He quickly finished his sandwich as she took off to the training dummies.

“Just start easy on me, please!” he called out as he chased after her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Vauthry, the twins are left to deal with losing the Exarch and the current state of the Warrior of Light. Neither are in a good place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut implied but not described. Angst and uneasiness. An emotional fluff piece is coming next.
> 
> I know not much happens in this chapter. It's set up for something I have planned with my next project, which I'll be writing and posting in April for Camp NaNoWriMo. With that story in mind, I should have these pieces done by the end of March!

Alisaie pulled the straps of her camisole back up on her shoulder and then with nimble fingers began to braid her hair back up, securing the braid with the red ribbon that had been discarded in the bedsheets. 

Her eyes felt swollen from crying, only getting the smallest reprieve from the tears while her and Alphinaud tried to distract their minds, bodies, anxieties and fears in an act that was increasingly wearing on her psyche. It didn’t have the same effect that it had in the beginning. She felt more guilt after each incident, despite how often she reminded herself that they weren’t truly in physical form and that there was no one she could rely on like her twin. 

Alphinaud too was quiet as he sat at the open window of his room, looking out on the unnaturally bright sky, just hours past midnight. He was deep in thought, chewing on his lower lip. 

Alisaie grabbed the blue ribbon and stood, crossed the room, then placed herself on the other side of the open window. Without words, she motioned at Alphinaud who sat up and turned around so that she could work on his hair. 

“We were so close and everything feels lost,” he commented. She knew that he needed to talk about it, but she also knew that she would start to cry again the more they discussed it. Out of fear her voice would break, Alisaie said nothing and focused on her brother’s hair. Without response from her, he continued. 

“How do we fix this? No Exarch and the Warrior of ‘Light’, literally now, a ticking time bomb of light. There is no hope. It’s all been for naught. Do you think Emet-Selch was right? That it will come down to kill or be killed? I suppose if we must go, I would rather it be at the hand of a dear friend with no other choice, just I can’t help but to think on all the other innocent lives that we can’t save. An entire world of people who are going to be obliterated when— ow!”

Alisaie had pulled hard on his hair. “Stop. This isn’t the end. It can’t be. It isn’t going to be for us to decide. We know our friend and know that they aren’t going to let what he said come to pass if there is any other way. Ryne bought us time and it’s going to be what we do with that time that counts.”

She didn’t want to admit that she was terrified. Her mind kept returning to the people at Journey’s End and how she didn’t want all their efforts to be for nothing. And she thought on what would happen back at the source if their souls were caught in the calamity caused by the light on the First. How would Tataru find them? What would happen to everyone? And there was no way to warn them. It caused her to start to panic and her fingers shook as she finished braiding. 

“I got too cocky after Eulmore. Everything was going our way. I didn’t pay heed to the things Emet-Selch said. I assumed he was trying to throw us off from his plan,” he continued. Alisaie sighed.

“He’s an Ascian, there was no reason for us to take his word as truth. A few good deeds for us, such as bringing back Y’shtola, doesn’t automatically earn trust when there were centuries worth of reasons not to trust him.”

“Do you believe him now though?” he asked again as he turned to face her. 

“Yes. I do think that he truly wanted us to succeed and prove ourselves different than the mortals he’s been dealing with. He wanted to be proven wrong and I fear we are at his mercy now that we’ve failed. I believe that in his perspective, he is doing what is right by any means necessary. Always plotting to reach that end. I worry about what he is doing with the Exarch. I worry about his invitation to the Tempest. I worry about everything right now, Alphinaud, and you’re not helping,” she answered. 

Standing again, Alisaie began to pace the room. She found her shorts and slipped them on and then dug around the bed for her dress and coat. It was hard to see as the tears welled up. She felt helpless in a situation where she wanted to help the most. 

Alphinaud got to his feet and walked over to her. He grabbed her arm before he pleaded, “Please, don’t leave. I’m sorry. I know you’re worried more than anyone else about our friend and I don’t have any words to soothe those fears. But, please.”

Her eyes met his. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him so scared, genuinely frightened, outside of battle. She couldn’t leave him if she tried, but he needed to stop verbalizing all the problems they were about to face. 

“On the condition you just… stop talking,” she told him. 

He let go of her arm and grabbed the waist band of her pants to pull her closer. His fingers worked the lacings then let them drop so that she stood there in just her camisole and underwear. She didn’t move to encourage or discourage him, she just watched him. He looked up to meet her eyes.

“Just stay,” he said again. 

“Okay,” she assured him. As he leaned in to kiss her, Alisaie stopped him, hand up against his mouth. “But no more of that. I can’t do it.”

Alphinaud looked hurt, but only before a moment before his expression went neutral and he gave a nod, “You’re right. I don’t know what we’ve been thinking. I’m sorry.”

“I just think it no longer serves the purpose it did originally. There’s no easing through what is going on. No sweet escape. It only adds further complications and this isn’t something that can continue when we get back to the Source. I want to still have hope that we will get back,” she explained as she moved over to the bed. “I need to have hope.”

Though he hesitated a moment, Alphinaud closed the window and joined her under the blankets. She curled up next to him, arms wrapped around him and head on his chest like she had through so much of their lives. 

Though she slept, Alisaie’s mind was riddled with terrible dreams and when she awoke she felt no more rested than she had went she had fallen asleep. The bed was empty when she finally rose and she found Alphinaud at the window again studying something. She joined him, touching her hand to his. Startled, he quickly moved back but relaxed once he realized it was her. 

“Have you slept at all?” she asked, worried.

“Some, but I don’t think enough to count. Are you all right? You were restless in your sleep. I think I’ve bruises to show for it.”

“I can’t remember. I know I dreamt and I know they couldn’t have been good dreams, but I can’t recall them. That’s probably for the best,” she answered honestly as her eyes cast in the direction he had been watching. She could see their friend out in the gardens. “At least we’ve awoken to another day.”

“May it not be our last. Let us dress and meet with the others. I pray they’ve had a more mentally productive night and might have some ideas on our next step,” Alphinaud suggested.

Alisae moved away from the window and began to put her clothes back on. An unsettling feeling rested within her. As much as she wanted to brush it off as an extension of the anxiety she already felt, it was different. As if a fog had settled in her mind and the more she tried to clear it and remember her dreams, the thicker it grew. 

“Are you okay?” Alphinaud moved over to her, making her realize she had stopped dressing.

“Yes, I think so. Sorry. Let’s hurry,” she brushed him off and slipped on her coat. She paused as she followed him to the door. “Was there anyone else in here last night?”

He looked at her curiously and shook his head, “No, not that I’m aware. Why do you ask?”

“No reason… I suppose. Come on.” As they left, she looked behind her and searched the room one more time before she followed.


End file.
